


Fries, Gravy, and Cheese Curds

by Goldy



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-09
Updated: 2013-07-09
Packaged: 2017-12-18 02:09:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/874475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldy/pseuds/Goldy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor and Rose sample a Canadian delicacy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fries, Gravy, and Cheese Curds

Rose eyed the Doctor dubiously and then returned her gaze to the plate of food—if it could even be called that—in front of her. It was... brown. And mushy. And there were white, puffy... things. She cocked her head. Cheese?

“What _is_ it?” she managed faintly.

“Poutine,” said the Doctor, in the tone of voice that intimated that she was very human and therefore completely stupid in some way.

Rose sat down and then immediately wished she hadn’t. The chair was made out of plastic and had a hard curved back. Also, she was fairly certain she was sitting in the remnants of someone else’s chips and gravy—a fact that was going to be all over her trousers when she stood back up.

“You said we were going to try a delicacy,” she reminded the Doctor. “The best Montreal had to offer.”

“This _is_!” said the Doctor, staring at her like he no longer knew her.

“I just...” she looked around, eyes travelling over the cheap plastic tables, the gaudy decorations, and the hockey flags crowding the walls. She had a perfect view of the kitchen from her spot—and could see the cooks fry the chips and drench them in gravy with perfect clarity. Her stomach rumbled uncomfortably. “I suppose I expected something a little... nicer.”

“Well, yeah,” said the Doctor. “We could have gone to a fancy restaurant, sure.” He dropped down into the seat across from her. “But what’s the fun in that? This... _this_ is travelling—throwing yourself in with both feet, eating the food of the locals, and kissing random strangers.”

Rose cleared her throat.

“ _Hugging_ random strangers,” the Doctor said smoothly. “Did I say ‘kissing?’ How odd.”

Rose couldn’t stop herself from smiling at the familiar glint in his eyes. “All right,” she said. She picked up a fork and then hesitated. “What exactly is in this?”

The Doctor shrugged. “Chips, gravy, and cheese curds.”

“ _Cheese curds_?” Rose dropped the fork back on the table.

“Oi, just ‘cos something is different, doesn’t mean it’s bad. Honestly, you lot have a dessert called ‘spotted dick.’”

Okay, he had a point there. Taking a deep breath, she picked up her fork again and brought a forkful of the poutine to her mouth. The chips were crispy, faintly sweet and completely drenched under the sauce. The cheese was slightly melted from the gravy, and she sat up straighter when it squeaked against her teeth. She swallowed and the chips, gravy, and cheese slid down easily before sitting warmly in her stomach.

She stared at the Doctor with wide eyes and he shot her his trademark I’m-so-clever smirk. She ignored him and dug into the poutine in earnest, attention focused solely on chewing and swallowing.

“Oh my god, this is amazing,” she said, swallowing. “Marry me.”

“Too late.”

Rose grinned around another mouthful, only noticing the Doctor’s hand just in time to slap it out of the way. “Oi. Get your own.”

The Doctor sat back with a small pout. “I thought I was entitled to half of whatever you owned.”

Rose wagged the fork in his direction. A few droplets of gravy sprayed out and landed on his chin. He grinned and wiped it away with his thumb before licking it off.

“Nope. It’s a foreign country. Whatever we do here doesn’t count.”

“Ah.”

“You know,” Rose mused, “Montreal’s not half bad. I mean, aside from the cold and the rude drivers and the homeless person who swore at me in two languages. And—” she pointed a finger at him, growing more animated, “how come we always seem to be walking uphill? Who landed here and thought, ‘Oh, this frozen mountain looks like a good place to build a city.’”

“It _was_ a lovely view,” the Doctor pointed out. “ _Well_ , it would have been, had we not been chasing a Nurgle up twenty flights of stairs.”

“My toes are still frozen,” Rose said. “Actually, I think I’m gonna be digging snow out of my boots in April.”

“Welcome to Canada!” said the Doctor brightly. “Isn’t it brilliant?”

Rose took another bite of poutine. “Suppose it is, yeah.”

“And just think,” the Doctor leaned across the table, dropping his voice, “Torchwood thought the Nurgle was an alien.”

“Too bad it turned out to be a deranged hockey fan,” Rose said. “From Toronto.”

As soon as the word “Toronto” left her mouth, the chatter in the rest of the restaurant ground to a halt as other patrons turned in their seats to stare at Rose and the Doctor.

“Ixnay on the Toronto word,” the Doctor said, dropping his voice to a low murmur and eyeing the other patrons like they might suddenly rise up and riot.

Rose blinked. “It’s not like anyone in London would notice if you, I dunno... mentioned Cardiff in public or something.”

“That’s ‘cos nobody in London pays any attention to Cardiff.” The Doctor shrugged. “Really, why should they? Anyway—Rose, you’ve been to football matches. You know what it’s like.”

Rose sighed, and then looked around the restaurant—eyes finally landing on the hockey flags strung up on the walls. “Um...” she said. “Go Habs go?”

Several of the patrons nodded in agreement, even raising their drinks in her direction. Rose smiled and waved a forkful of poutine back at them. Satisfied, they returned to their meals.

Rose released a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding. The Doctor looked deep in thought. “What?”

“We haven’t filled out our report on the Nurgle yet.”

“Yeah,” Rose said. “But it’s not exactly going to take long, is it?”

“Well, we could wait a few days... drag it out,” he said slowly. “Maybe let Torchwood go on thinking that the Nurgle is an alien set to attack and destroy all life on Earth.”

“What,” said Rose, taking another bite of poutine and grinning widely, “and go off on our own adventure?”

“Something like that,” said the Doctor.

“You do know it’s the middle of winter, yeah? In _Canada_.” said Rose. “I almost fell over crossing the street. From the _wind_.”

“Come on, Rose. It's Montreal. We can.... go ice skating and build a snowman. Doesn't that sound brilliant?"

Rose stared at him doubtfully. "I suppose it's been a while since we've gone travelling, just you and me."

“Exactly!” said the Doctor. “ _And_ —I’ll tell you something else.”

“What’s that?”

He leaned across the table again. “We’ll have to stay... cozy.”

Rose blushed. Somehow it was still a surprise when the Doctor made those sorts of comments. She held out a forkful of poutine for him.

“In that case….” Rose said as the Doctor chewed and swallowed, “a Montreal holiday in January sounds like just the thing we need.”

“No, _not_ a holiday.” He winked at her. “We’re tracking down the Nurgles. It’s a matter of global security.”

“Right,” said Rose. She took another bite of poutine. “More importantly, we’ve _got_ to figure out why this hasn’t made it to the rest of the world yet.” 


End file.
